Bauer Latoza Studio (BLS) Architects kicks off its 25th anniversary celebrations with an Open Studio event for Chicago Artist Month 2015. The public is invited to tour our loft studio in the Historic Randolph Motor Car Building located in the Motor Row District of the South Loop. BLS has a diverse portfolio of projects in the local, national, and international markets in Historic Preservation, Adaptive Re-Use, Education, and Hospitality. Projects include the restoration of local treasures such as The Chicago Water Tower and Humboldt Park Boathouse and sites throughout the U.S. with the National Park Service. Our Hospitality work includes projects in Asia, South America, and the US. Our entire 7,800 square-foot loft will be open for this event.

The Studio Staff will host multimedia presentations of the firm’s projects. And the Studio’s “back room,” home to other creative endeavors such as artist-in-residencies, band rehearsals, and loft parties will present a Salon Talk, “The Colorful History of the Accordion” with Edward Torrez, and a fine art exhibition of work by Barbara Hashimoto. Torrez and Hashimoto are Principals at BLS. Torrez will exhibit his accordion collection, discuss the evolution and multi-cultural contributions of the “squeezebox” to folk cultures around the world, demonstrate how an accordion works, and play a variety of musical styles of the instrument. Hashimoto, whose work is in the prominent museum collections including, the Museum of Arts and Design, NY, the Smithsonian’s Museum of American, Art will exhibit new work.